THE BIG SPORTS WEEKEND

This will be the final weekend of 2006 without college or pro football to sustain our sporting interest. And apart from the critical Minnesota-Chicago series, there's not much catching my attention in baseball. I briefly thought about the Little League World Series, but it never really keeps my attention for long. I'll just have to wait a few more years to get interested in Little League when my kids are playing. So, at the risk of my readers clicking that back button right now, I'm going with auto racing for my ones to watch this weekend. But on the bright side, check out the scoreboard to the right - after 2 months soccer is no longer the 2nd most popular sport here at TOTW!

Saturday, August 26
NASCAR: Sharpie 500

Night racing at the 1/2 mile Bristol Speedway is always one of the biggest thrills of the NASCAR season. The track called "Thunder Valley" sits in the mountains of East Tennessee and actually feels more like a stadium. Tickets to this race are the hardest to get in all of the 36 race Nextel Cup schedule. Winning 5 of the past 9 races, Kurt Busch has dominated racing at Bristol recently and he starts from the pole tonight. Veterans Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin are both short track specialists who I expect to be near the front. Look for a lot of bumping and wrecking in this one. It's actually an art in short track racing. Even the winning car is likely to endure considerable damage during a race at Bristol. My pick: Matt Kennseth. The 2003 Winston Cup champ can win on all types of tracks. He won the Busch race on Friday and is a strong contender to win the title again.

Sunday, August 27
INDY CAR: Grand Prix of Sonoma

Without a Nextel Cup race or a football game to watch on Sunday, perhaps some of the new NASCAR fans will give the next-to-last IRL race of the year a chance. Nextel Cup itself visits scenic Infineon Raceway in the Napa Valley of Northern California every June. The harsh 2 mile track features a total of 12 left AND right turns. It's a good test for drivers as the track emphasizes the physical element of racing. Drivers must fight the wheel to keep their light cars steady while taking rapid turns at mind-boggling speeds. Danica Patrick struggled in this race last year and took out several other drivers in a bad wreck. Hopefully that won't happen to her pretty self this time, but don't expect to see Danica up front in this one. My pick: Dario Franchitti. Andretti-Green Racing will have a good chance to win its 2nd race of the year since pure speed is less important here than precise driving. The Scottsman Franchitti is a CART veteran with plenty of road racing experience.

We'll get back to some TOTW diversity next week. But with thoughts of IRL driver Dario Franchitti's lovely wife Ashley Judd in mind, how could I offer my readers anything less than Kentucky's finest export since Jim Beam?